Mercury Place, the gleaming office block near Leicester station, is a million miles away from the local paper headquarters it used to be. Business Editor Tom Pegden sees the changes.

The roar of the presses stopped almost a decade ago – there’s a trampoline park in the big press hall – and the reporters, designers, photographers and editors have been replaced by recruitment consultants, insurance brokers and wealth managers.

The latest tenant in the old Mercury building is the city’s newest big employer PPL PRS, headed up by new managing director Suzanne Smith.

The smart new office – with its glass walls, huge music-inspired mural created by The Graphic History Company, and bright logos – appear to fit the business brilliantly.

Suzanne, who earned her stripes working for the likes of NatWest, Capital One and Experian, said she wanted her offices to symbolise the new company’s intent to transform the way music licensing is done.

She said: “It was key to ensure it was a nice environment to work in, with a strong connection to the brand and to educate everyone about the value of music.

“I had never really worked in Leicester and have lived in Nottingham for the last 26 years, so it’s been great for me to have a chance to work here.

“This is a great location – close to the railway station because I have to go to London quite a lot and close to places like Curve theatre.

“Having said that I’ve not spent much time outside the office looking around.”

She said she has managed to join a couple of networking meetings since starting in Leicester and was also getting the company’s name out by supporting Soft Touch Arts in New Walk.

She has also met the board of the Business Improvement District, but said there’s still lots for her to find out about the place.

Married with a 23-year-old son, Suzanne was born in Cleethorpes and grew up in Grimsby.

After her A-levels she joined NatWest “stuffing statements into envelopes” before moving onto the counter.

She spent 18 years with the bank, in 1991 becoming an assistant manager at one of the two main branches in Nottingham. Then she helped launch a regional call centre.

She became the third person to join Capital One in 1998, when that business came to the UK, becoming a senior manager in Nottingham.

She said: “I was there 11 years as the business grew, then went through the recession and came out the other side.

“It was a great company to work for, which really pushed you and was very strong on development and people-focused.”

PPL and PRS for Music both sponsored last year's Handmade Music festival in Leicester, which featured We Are Scientists

She moved to consumer data business Experian in 2009 as director of operations, later joining the UK executive team as managing director for customer experience.

The next big step came when she was headhunted by PPL PRS in December 2016.

The joint venture between music licensing companies PRS for Music and the PPL provides a new single licence – called TheMusicLicence – for businesses that play live and recorded music.

Royalties collected go to musicians, publishers and songwriters.

The parent companies chose Leicester because of its cheap rents – in comparison to London – talent pool and transport links to the capital.

They came up with a joint licence to make it easier for companies to pay for the rights to the music they listen to – customers get one invoice and pay one fee.

Suzanne said: “It was a change of industry, but needed the same skillset.

“Straight away I thought these are people I would like to work with or for, just from the panel interview, because of their passion and the objectives they shared.”

Mercury Place

TheMusicLicence finally went live in February and, once running costs are removed, the parent companies distribute the money back to member artists.

And it’s a lot of money.

In 2016, for instance, almost £270 million was generated by PPL and PRS for Music through the licensing of live and recorded music to businesses and organisations – from bars, pubs and clubs to hairdressers, fitness centres and hotels.

The new venture is now pretty much at full capacity with about 230 staff at its new offices – including around 80 that joined in January.

Suzanne said what attracted her to the role was the unique opportunity to help shape a totally new business.

She said: “I was fortunate to be involved with Capital One when they came to the UK, so had experience in a start-up, although most of my career has been in financial services. I was the first employee here so built the team up around me.

“The parent companies have been very, very supportive – it’s been a very strong joint programme all the way through.

“I can’t claim to have done it single-handedly, as the programme has been two-and-a-half years in the making.